Day 42: The 400 Blows

"Oh, I lie now and then, I suppose. Sometimes I'd tell them the truth and they still wouldn't believe me, so I prefer to lie."

Francois Truffaut’s “The 400 Blows” is the film that captures the affects that neglecting and under appreciative parents can have on a young child. It allows you to enter the psyche of an adolescent that has no one in this world to fall back on and is no longer able to control his disruptive behavior; constantly taking part in mischievous actions that only alienate himself even more from his family. I’d go far to even say that this film is perhaps one of the greatest arguments of Nature versus Nurture. Antoine Daniel (Jean-Pierre Laud) is a boy that’s been left with no choice but to run from his life at home and inevitably fall victim to a life of crime and corruption. The 400 Blows is an example of how once innocent young children can be lead in the wrong direction due to their selfish and uninterested parents.



It’s been well documented that this film is a sort of a semi-autobiography of Truffaut’s life as an adolescent. Truffaut was as well once a troubled child that couldn’t stay out of trouble and was caught at a crossroad; to continue to live a life of crime or grow up to be one the founders of The French New Wave. Luckily for us, he chose the latter. The 400 Blows is a film about a young misfit in Paris that is constantly getting himself in trouble and losing the hope of his embarrassed mother and warm-hearted yet detached step-father. His mother, played by the lovely Claire Maurier, is sick of the low-class lifestyle that she’s been forced to live in and is constantly taking her frustration out on Antoine by emotionally abusing him and having an affair with another man. Antoine’s step-dad is a warm-hearted individual that seems to be the only person that young Antoine has on his side but it’s evident that there is a lack of attachment between the two once Antoine begins to rebel. Antoine is a struggling student that results in him being ridiculed by his impatient and rather strict teacher played by Guy Decombie, only adding to his urge to run away from all the punishment and drama. Antoine runs away from home numerous of times throughout the film and each time he returns his parents make an insincere attempt to embrace him and cater to his needs in exchange for good behavior on his part. It obviously fails and Antoine continues to rebel and misbehave, his behavior leaves his parents no choice but to give up on him and send him to a camp for juvenile delinquents.


This is a film that was made in order for the audience to see what can happen to a child that doesn’t have an effective support-system at home or in school. I know that it’s much more complicated than that but that’s where the root of all of Antoine’s troubles start. The neglect and mistreatment that he encounters by all these authority figures in his life are what force him to accept the fact that he’s alone in his life. A realization that no young boy should ever have to come to. On the surface this film may seem depressive but seeing Antoine rebel can only make you feel like a child again; rooting for him, hoping that he doesn’t get caught but most importantly finding some sort of happiness and liberation in his young life.